Portland developer Eli Spevak shows off Cully Grove, the community living development at 4751 N.E. Going St. that still has more than 200 potential homeowners interested in moving in. Spevak partnered with Zach Parrish to make the 16-home concept a reality in 2013 and is using it as a model to develop Camp Cully across the street. (Phill Colombo)

Two new housing projects planned for the Cully Neighborhood will include smaller units in a closer community living style, giving first-time home owners an opportunity to buy into Portland’s highly coveted Northeast residences, according to Eli Spevak, principal of Orange Splot, LLC. Spevak, co-developer with Zach Parrish three years ago of Cully Grove (4751 N.E. Going St.), explained plans for Mason Street Town Homes (5836 N.E. Mason St.) and Camp Cully on an L-shaped 1.5-acre property across the street from Cully Grove.

“When we built Cully Grove, none of the residents was a first-time homeowner,” Spevak said. Mason Street Town Homes and Camp Cully will be different, he added. The Mason Street project will locate 13 new row houses in four buildings to be sold as condominiums. Most of the condos will be 1,100 square feet in the $300,000 range, and there will be some 1,400-square-foot units in the $400,000 range.

One house on the property was deconstructed with most materials given away in cooperation with the Cully Association of Neighbors. Another existing 840-square-foot home will be preserved, and common areas including a social gathering facility, a guest house for visiting family and friends, secure bike parking, garden tool storage and parking along with a central courtyard for play and socializing are also planned.

Spevak is working with Proud Ground, a community land trust and the City of Portland to make at least three of the Mason Street Town Homes permanently affordable to buyers making 80 percent of median income. Resale of these units will be restricted by a formula that keeps any profit at or below 25 percent of the purchase price. Permits were being completed this summer, and Spevak expected groundbreaking during August and Mason Street Town Homes ready for sale in the summer of 2017.

Typical of Cully Grove where facilities are designed around existing flora, Spevak said Camp Cully’s 22 living units are positioned to surround a grove of fir trees ideal for a campfire circle. Some existing houses on the property will be deconstructed, but most of an existing house facing Northeast 47th Avenue will be preserved. Parking for 19 vehicles will be in two areas adjacent to Northeast 47th Avenue and Northeast Going Street, and access to the homes will be by pedestrian sidewalk. Bicycle spaces are expected to exceed code, according to Spevak.

A mix of unit sizes will range between three 600-sq. ft. one-bedroom, one-bath units and a 2000-sq. ft. four-bedroom, two-bath unit in the existing house. Also available will be seven 800-sq.-ft. two bedrooms, one bath units, four 1200-sq.-ft. three-bedroom, two-bath units and seven 1500 sq.-ft. three-bedroom, two-baths units. At least three of these units will also be offered as permanently affordable, and Camp Cully will include common areas such as community gardens, guest house, social gathering facility and children’s play area.

Spevak works from his small office at Cully Grove, a development he calls “an old-fashioned neighborhood built in a new-fashioned way.” On nearly two acres, Cully Grove is made up of 16 homes in multiple-unit buildings ringed around the periphery of an 80,000-sq.-ft. property, festooned with solar panels and are complemented by a large common area that includes a meeting space, guest accommodations, a 4,400-sq.-ft. community garden, a 200-foot deep irrigation well and a flock of chickens and ducks.

Interest in Orange Splot’s community living projects seems to be aggressive, according to Spevak, with 140 on the Mason Street Townhomes list and 219 expressing interest in Camp Cully. Spevak said some people are on both lists, and at least 215 potential homeowners were still showing interest in the three-year-old Cully Grove community.